It was something of an odd show, going back and forth between music and comedy, most of which was, well, not that funny. Only two comedians were explicitly political, John Hodgman, who made Renee Magritte jokes, and John Oliver, who's been my new fave correspondent for a while now. I love Sam Bee, but based on the beginning and the end of her routine, going to the can in the middle was a wise choice.
(And I will not name the Daily Show correspondent whose drug habits were being loudly discussed by a woman in the ladies room on a cell phone. But it was funny. "Did ***** give Brenda her pot back? She's at the bar!")
Musically, it was equally uneven. I sort of got to like the opening act: a metal band in powdered wigs called The Upper Crust, though Thers and I got into quite a little debate about whether they were Regency or Georgian. Our companions were quite amused by this, I gather.
I dunno, I think they need a schtick.
After a comedy interval, Clem Snide came on. I think he was sort of wrong for the venue, plus he kept talking about setting things on fire, which was disturbing. Another comedy interval was followed by The Mountain Goats, who were okay, but again, not quite right for the venue. Their set picked up a lot when Jon from Superchunk came out to drum for them. however.
And finally, ascending around midnight, was Superchunk. It's been a while since they played, but they were surprisingly tight. (Jim had a cranky guitar which would not stay in tune, so that slowed things down a bit.) But they were just wonderful, energetic and fun and rocking.
And Thers found this, which was transcendent. (It was the last song.)
More at the Village Voice:
All night, there was a sort of weird clash between people who were there to see the bands and the people there for Daily Show-related reasons. It meant that the conversational din in the venue was absurdly loud during both the bands and the between-set comedy bits from the show's cast members, which ranged from really funny to not really all that funny. Jon Stewart wasn't there; his involvement was limited to a video introducing headliners Superchunk. Instead, most of the show's current correspondents came out to do different bit. My favorite was probably former correspondent Ed Helms, who came out with two other guys and played a totally straight-faced old-timey bluegrass song before introducing the guy from the Jersey fake-metal band Satanicide, who came out to yowl a power-ballad bluegrass cover of "My Heart Will Go On," which sounded sort of amazing. People shut up for that part, at least.
That part was pretty cool, I have to admit.
Anyway, a fine evening, and the rain had ended by the time we headed out, so it was all good, eventually. NTodd even got some pics. **mwah!**
5 comments:
You've inspired to dust off my copy of "That's Where the Strings Come In".
*sigh*
Oh, Zap, they played "Hyper Enough" as an encore, and, much to Thers's delight, "Detroit Has a Skyline" in their regular set!
"Jon" from Superchunk.
And they were so Regency.
I wasn't cranky because you were late. I was cranky because it was past my bedtime, the concert was cutting into my putting-on-the-moves time, and Thers is a lout.
And they were so Regency.
Actually, I hate to admit it, but I agree. Tigre and I discussed that on the way home. And I'm so fucking not at all ashamed that I said 'Victorian' because I was tired, drunk, and not used to having any louts around who would ever call me on my stream of consciousness in a loud place.
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